OLYMPICS-NEWS
Osaka lights cauldron at opening ceremony
TOKYO (AP) — Tennis star Naomi Osaka has lit the cauldron at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Games, ending the flame’s long journey from Greece.
Sadaharu Oh, Shigeo Nagashima and Hideki Matsui were among the baseball greats who took part in bringing the flame into the stadium. They passed it to a doctor and nurse who ran a couple hundred yards with it, then handed off to a Paralympic athlete.
Six students were next to take it closer to the stage, and at the foot of the stage with the last torch was Osaka — the four-time Grand Slam winner who will compete at the Tokyo Games. She took it to the center of the stage. A staircase emerged, the cauldron opened and Osaka walked to the top, dipped the flame in, the cauldron ignited and fireworks filled the sky.
Osaka wrote on Instagram that lighting the cauldron was “undoubtedly the greatest athletic achievement and honor I will ever have in my life.”
Osaka was born in Japan and moved to the United States when she was 3. The No. 2-ranked Osaka and top-ranked Ash Barty are favorites to win the women’s singles title Olympic tennis tournament that starts Saturday. Osaka opens against 52nd-ranked Zheng Saisai of China on Sunday.
In other Olympic news:
— South Korea’s An San has broken the women’s Olympic archery record with a score of 680 in the qualifying round on a hot and humid day. Her mark topped the score of 673 set by Lina Herasymenko of Ukraine in 1996. An San’s teammates were second and third. Russian Olympic Committee archer Svetlana Gomboeva collapsed in the intense heat and was treated by medical staff. In the men’s qualifying round, Kim Je Deok of South Korea posted the top mark of 688, with Brady Ellison of the United States second and Oh Jin Hyek of South Korea third.
— About 100 of the 613 U.S. athletes descending on Tokyo for the Olympics are unvaccinated, according to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s medical chief. Medical director Jonathan Finnoff says some 600 of the American athletes had filled out their health histories as they prepared for the trip, and estimated 83% had replied they were vaccinated. The IOC has estimated around 85% of residents of the Olympic Village are vaccinated; they base that on what each country’s Olympic committee tells them but have not independently verified the number.
— The World Anti-Doping Agency says several Russian athletes have been kept away from the Games because of doping suspicions based on evidence from a Moscow testing laboratory that was shut down in 2015. WADA’s director general says it intervened with sports bodies to ensure the athletes were not selected. The team of 335 Russian athletes accredited for Tokyo is competing without a national flag and anthem as punishment for state tampering with the Moscow lab’s database.
— The Swiss Olympic team says 400-meter hurdler Kariem Hussein has accepted a nine-month ban after testing positive for a banned stimulant. The 2014 European champion was entered in the event at the Tokyo Games. The heats start next Friday. It is unclear if Hussein will be replaced in the 40-athlete lineup.
— Six Polish swimmers have returned home before the Olympics even started, their dreams scuttled by the country mistakenly sending too many athletes to Tokyo. Only 17 swimmers from Poland qualified for the Tokyo Games. The country’s swimming federation put 23 athletes on the plane to Japan, sparking outrage among those who were denied a chance to compete.
— Australian swimmer Kaylee McKeown has surprisingly withdrawn from one of her best events because of a busy schedule at the Tokyo Olympics. McKeown dropped the 200-meter individual medley, where she’s ranked No. 1 in the world and would have been a favorite to win a gold medal. She’ll focus instead on her two backstroke events and the relays.
— A bad weather forecast for Monday in Tokyo has prompted Olympic officials to move scheduled rowing events to Sunday. Officials say rain, high winds and strong gusts could cause choppy and potentially unrowable conditions at the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo Bay. The change affects men’s and women’s single and double sculls semifinals, and men’s and women’s fours repechage. The opening heats in the men’s and women’s eights also were moved from Sunday to Saturday.
MLB-NEWS
Guardians will be new name of Cleveland Indians
UNDATED (AP) — Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team has a new name. The team that’s been known as the Indians since 1915 will now be called the Guardians, effective at the end of the 2021 season.
The ballclub announced the name change Friday with a video on Twitter narrated by actor Tom Hanks.
The organization spent most of the past year whittling down a list of potential names that numbered 1,200 just over a month ago. But the process quickly accelerated and the club landed on Guardians.
Owner Paul Dolan said the new name mirrors the city and its people. He is expected to provide more details on the choice and background on the change at a news conference at Progressive Field before the Indians host the Tampa Bay Rays Friday night.
In other MLB news:
— The pitching-thin New York Mets have acquired left-hander Rich Hill from the Tampa Bay Rays, according to a person familiar with the trade. The 41-year-old Hill is 6-4 with a 3.89 ERA in 19 starts for the contending Rays. He has pitched just 95 1/3 innings this year under limits imposed under the Rays’ pitching strategy. This will be his 11th big league team in a 17-season career.
NHL-NEWS
Sabres add 1st-round pick in trading Ristolainen to Flyers
UNDATED (AP) — The Buffalo Sabres have traded veteran defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (rihs-toh-LY’-nehn) to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Buffalo, which has the first pick in Friday night’s NHL draft, acquired fifth-year defenseman Robert Hagg and the Flyers’ first-round pick. Buffalo also acquired Philadelphia’s second-round pick in the 2023 draft.
Ristolainen gives the Flyers another right-shot defenseman for their top four after acquiring Ryan Ellis from Nashville last weekend.
The trade could be the first of several made by Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams, who is also shopping captain Jack Eichel (EYE’-kul) and forward Sam Reinhart.
In other NHL news:
— The New York Rangers have put defenseman Tony DeAngelo on unconditional waivers for the purposes of buying out the final year of his contract. DeAngelo was sent home last season after an undisclosed incident followed warnings about his behavior. The 25-year-old can sign anywhere as a free agent when the market opens next week. DeAngelo went unclaimed off waivers by the NHL’s other 30 teams last season. DeAngelo is only one season removed from putting up 53 points in 68 games.
NFL-NEWS
Number of NFL players in vaccination process up to 80%
UNDATED (AP) — The number of NFL players who are in the COVID-19 vaccination process has reached 80%, with nine teams having 90% or more of their players in that category.
Dr. Allen Sills, the league’s medical director, said Friday that nearly all team employees who deal directly with players have been vaccinated. Five teams have less than 70% of players who have either received one vaccination shot or both. He is optimistic the number of vaccinated players will continue to rise as training camps open.
In other NFL news:
— Cornerback Cre’von LeBlanc has signed a one-year contract with the Miami Dolphins. LeBlanc, a five-year veteran with 16 career starts, played mostly as a reserve the past two seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles. He has also played for Detroit and Chicago. Linebacker Shaquem Griffin also signed a one-year deal. He excelled on special teams the past three seasons for Seattle. Griffin, who lost his left hand as a child, became an inspiration for many when he made the Seahawks after being drafted in the fifth round in 2018.
GOLF-SENIOR BRITISH OPEN
Darren Clarke holds 1-stroke lead at Senior British Open
SUNNINGDALE, England (AP) — Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland holds a one-stroke lead after two rounds at the Senior British Open. He shot a 3-under 67 after posting an opening 65 at Sunningdale.
Clarke is on track to join the history books. He won the British Open in 2011. Only three other players have won both tournaments.
Clarke is at 8-under 132. Jerry Kelly was a stroke back with defending champion Bernhard Langer (LAHN’-gur). Two-time British Open champion Ernie Els was two strokes back. He has the same opportunity as Clarke to become just the fourth player to win both tournaments.
LPGA-EVIAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Jeongeun Lee6 ties golf majors record for lowest round of 61
EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AP) — South Korean golfer Jeongeun Lee6 has tied the golf majors record for the lowest round ever after carding a 10-under-par 61 at the Evian Championship. Her 36-hole score of 127 is also the lowest total in women’s or men’s major history, beating the 128 by Brooks Koepka (KEHP’-kuh) at the 2019 U.S. PGA Championship.
Lee6′s 10 birdies in a bogey-free second round earned her a three-shot lead at 15 under. Her 61 equaled countrywoman Hyo Joo Kim, who shot lowest score by a female or male in a major in the first round in 2014 at the same Evian Resort.
GYMNASTICS-THE SIMONE AND GABBY EFFECT
Black participation rising in gymnastics
TOKYO (AP) — The success of Olympic gymnastics champions Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles has created a spike in interest in the sport in Black communities.
Representation among Black girls at the upper reaches women’s gymnastics is rising. Women of color make up half of the U.S. Olympic team in Tokyo, and Black gymnasts account for nearly 10% of NCAA Division I women’s gymnastics scholarships.
Organizations like Brown Girls Do Gymnastics are attempting to make it easier for gymnasts of color to get involved in the sport.
Grambling State University in Louisiana is raising money in an attempt to become the first historically Black college and university to offer women’s gymnastics at the varsity level.
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